Statutory Testing at Cliffedale

Statutory Tests

There will be a number of national summative assessments of your child during their time at Cliffedale. Brief details are given below.

EYFS Baseline Assessment:

Children are assessed against the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) 17 areas of learning within the first weeks of joining Cliffedale School. The results influence planning and over the year. Children’s learning is captured on-line via ‘Tapestry’. The age related expectation at the start of Reception Class is 40 - 60 months.

Early Learning Goals:

At the end of Reception, children are assessed against the ELG (Early Learning Goals) in the 17 areas.

Phonics Screening Check Year 1:

In term 6, children take a phonics screening check of 40 words (including nonsense words) 1:1 with a teacher. If children do not meet the expected standard they will take the test again at the end of Year 2

Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) will become statutory for year 4 pupils in the summer of 2020. The check will take place in June and will assess pupil recall of all times tables to 12x12.

Key Stage 2 Assessments:

In May, children in Year 6 take timed tests according to a timetable released by the DfE. The children take tests for Reading, Mathematics and GPS (Grammar Punctuation Spelling). Writing assessment is through teacher assessment. These assessments identify whether or not the children are working towards, at or above age expectations. Teachers also provide a teacher assessment and the accuracy of these assessments is ensured through both internal, local cluster and Local Authority support/moderation.

Further information about the national tests can be found on the Department for Education website. 

• Department for Education

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

The phonics screening check for pupils in Year 1 will take place during June. 

The national phonics screening check was introduced in 2012 to all Year 1 pupils. It is meant to show how well your child can use the phonics skills they’ve learned up to the end of Year 1 and to identify pupils who may need extra phonics support. The checks are “short, light-touch assessments” that take about four to nine minutes to complete.

How is the check structured?

The checks consist of 40 words and non-words that your child will be asked to read one-on-one with a teacher. Non-words (or nonsense words, or pseudo words) are a collection of letters that will follow phonics rules your child has been taught, but don’t mean anything – your child will need to read these with the correct sounds to show that they understand the phonics rules behind them.

The 40 words and non-words are divided into two sections – one with simple word structures of three or four letters, and one with more complex word structures of five or six letters. The teacher administering the check with your child will give them a few practice words to read first – including some non-words – so they understand more about what they have to do. Each of the non-words is presented with a picture of a monster/alien, as if the word were their name (and so your child doesn't think the word is a mistake because it doesn't make sense!).

Is it stressful to test such young children?
The assessment will be age-appropriate, with children sitting with their teacher and reading one-to-one. It should be an enjoyable activity for children which takes no more than a few minutes.

Does a child have to take the test?

Yes, all pupils in Year 1 are required to take the test.

Why are non-words included in the screening check?
Non-words are an established assessment method and are included because they will be new to all pupils, so there won’t be a bias to those with a good vocabulary knowledge or visual memory of words. Pupils who can read non-words should have the skills to decode almost any unfamiliar word.

How long does the check take?
Every child is different but in most cases the check should take less than 10 minutes per child.

When will parents know the results?
You will be informed of your child's result at the end of the summer term.

What happens if a child struggles with the screening check?
The screening check will identify those who have phonic decoding skills below the level expected for the end of Year 1. Extra help will be provided by the school and your child will then be able to re-take the assessment in Year 2.

How can I help my child?
Your child's phonic development is regularly checked and the statutory screening forms part of our overall assessment procedure. However, there are a number of things that parents can do to support early reading skill development.

• Let your child see you enjoying reading yourself – they are influenced by you and what you value!
• Share books and magazines with your child, take them to the library to choose books, read to them regularly, point out texts around you e.g. in the street etc.
• Make time for your child to read school books to you regularly – encourage them by pointing to the words and ask them about the story they are reading.
• Help your child to practise reading key words and sounds.
• Go over the phonics they’ve learned in EYFS and Year 1.
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English - KEY STAGE 2 

The KS2 English reading test comprises a reading booklet and a separate answer booklet. The reading booklet will contain a selection of three to four unrelated texts which will increase in difficulty. There will be a mix of text types, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Time Allowed:

The total testing time is 60 minutes. This includes reading time and time to answer the questions.

Types of Questions:
Questions include short answers, several line answers, longer answers and selected answers (multiple choice responses, ordering, linking lines). They test the key expected skills that relate to comprehension, ranging from simple explanation to inference, prediction and understanding of vocabulary in context. Children also need to demonstrate that they can summarise and make comparisons.

There will be a selection of question types, including:

• Ranking/ordering: e.g. ‘Number the events below to show the order in which they happen in the story’
• Labelling, e.g. ‘Label the text to show the title of the story’
• Find and copy, e.g. ‘Find and copy one word that suggests what the weather is like in the story’
• Short constructed response, e.g. ‘What does the bear eat?’
• Open-ended response, e.g. ‘Look at the sentence that begins Once upon a time. How does the writer increase the tension throughout this paragraph? Explain fully, referring to the text in your answer.’

Marking:
The papers will be set and marked externally.

Overall Assessment for Reading:

The test score will be combined with a teacher assessment of reading to reach an overall judgement.

Maths

KEY STAGE 2 

Children will sit three papers, with questions taken from the new national curriculum and including a variety of work from Year 3 to Year 6.

Paper 1 is made up of sums and calculations. Papers 2 and 3 will put more of an emphasis on problem solving and reasoning skills. There will be a mixture of question levels; not just different levels of ability, but also different levels of complexity. So, some questions will involve more steps than others, or might involve more than 1 Maths topic.

Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes, 40 marks

This will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. It will contain questions from the number and place value, calculations, fractions (including decimals), ratio and proportion and algebra sections of the curriculum. Each question has squared paper to allow for working out.

Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes, 35 marks for each paper

They will contain questions from the number and place value, calculations, fractions (including decimals), ratio and proportion, algebra, measurement, geometry and statistics sections of the curriculum.

They will involve a number of question types, including:

• Multiple choice
• True or false
• Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing a shape or completing a table or chart
• Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their approach for solving a problem

Children will not be allowed to use a calculator in any of the tests.

KEY STAGE 2 

Children will sit three papers, with questions taken from the new national curriculum and including a variety of work from Year 3 to Year 6.

Paper 1 is made up of sums and calculations. Papers 2 and 3 will put more of an emphasis on problem solving and reasoning skills. There will be a mixture of question levels; not just different levels of ability, but also different levels of complexity. So, some questions will involve more steps than others, or might involve more than 1 Maths topic.

Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes, 40 marks

This will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. It will contain questions from the number and place value, calculations, fractions (including decimals), ratio and proportion and algebra sections of the curriculum. Each question has squared paper to allow for working out.

Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes, 35 marks for each paper

They will contain questions from the number and place value, calculations, fractions (including decimals), ratio and proportion, algebra, measurement, geometry and statistics sections of the curriculum.

They will involve a number of question types, including:

• Multiple choice
• True or false
• Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing a shape or completing a table or chart
• Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their approach for solving a problem

Children will not be allowed to use a calculator in any of the tests.

GPS (Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling)

KEY STAGE 2

The GPS test includes questions that assess the following elements of the English curriculum:

• Sentence grammar through both identifying and writing sentences that are grammatically correct.
• Punctuation through identifying and writing sentences that are correctly punctuated.
• Vocabulary through identifying and writing sentences in which a word is used correctly.
• Spelling

THE QUESTION PAPERS

The GPS test consists of two papers:

Paper 1 has multiple choice or short sentence answers. They cover areas such as using connectives; using pronouns correctly; capitalising the correct words in a sentence and explaining why; putting the correct punctuation into a sentence; writing sentences that illustrate two different meanings of the same word; identifying the verb/noun/adjective/clauses in a sentence and using plurals correctly. 

Paper 2 is a spelling test, where children will have to spell words dictated by the teacher.

THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE NEEDED
As well as being able to spell words correctly, use a wide range of vocabulary and punctuate well, children need to have a technical understanding of how the English language works. For example, they should understand the meaning of grammatical terms such as adjective, prefix, and adverb; know what phrases and clauses are and how to use them; understand what connectives are and how they work and know how to turn a question into a command. This terminology can be challenging even for children who are otherwise good at reading and writing and make the questions hard to understand.

HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME

• Make spelling part of everyday life!
• Write down some unpunctuated sentences for your child to punctuate correctly.
• Copy some sentences from a book and underline either the main or subordinate clause.
• Write letters or emails and encourage your child to add an adjective or adverb to a sentence.
• Play word games: say a word and ask your child to tell you a synonym (a word that means the same) or an antonym (a word that means the opposite).
• If your child asks you a question, ask how he would rephrase it as a command (e.g. ‘Can you make me a drink?’ becomes, ‘Make me a drink!’)
• Encourage your child to read a variety of texts – fiction, information books, comics, newspapers, magazines, etc. – to broaden their vocabulary.

WORD LISTS

The Department for Education has provided word lists for the pupils from Year 3 to Year 6. Please see the documents below. You can also find a copy of the '100 High Frequency Words' and the 'Next 200 High Frequency Words' lists which are used in Key Stage 1.